Afghan Election Hailed as Taliban Threat Remains

Afghans and the international community hailed its presidential election as a triumph of democracy over violence Sunday, despite complaints about ballot shortages and sporadic fraud after millions of people braved a Taliban threat to vote for a new president. But some cautioned against declaring a premature defeat of the Islamic terrorists.

Securing the vote was a test for Afghan government forces as they prepare to take full responsibility for their own security as the U.S. and allied forces end their combat mission at the end of this year. The consensus was that they largely passed, though there was sporadic violence.

A roadside bomb hit a pickup truck transporting ballot boxes Sunday in the northern province of Kunduz, killing three people, officials said. But the major attacks that had been feared did not materialize.

“This in itself is a victory over violence and a victory over all those who wanted to deter democracy by threats and violence,” said Thijs Berman, the head of the European Union’s election assessment team in Kabul.

Electoral officials, meanwhile, urged patience, saying officials continued to log complaints and tally ballots. The ballots were coming from more than 20,000 polling stations nationwide, some in extremely remote and rural areas. They were being transported to tally centers in all 34 provinces before the results reach Kabul.

Some candidate forecasts and partial results are expected in the coming days. Noor Mohammad Noor, a spokesman for the Independent Election Commission, said preliminary results were due April 24 and final results will be announced May 14.

With a crowded field of eight candidates, nobody was expected to get the majority needed to win outright. That would force a runoff between the top two vote-getters, which would be held at the end of May. President Hamid Karzai was constitutionally banned from seeking a third term.

Noor said initial reports show a turnout of more than 7 million people, nearly 60 percent of eligible voters. That was sharply up from the estimated 4.5 million people vote in 2009’s presidential and provincial council elections, which were marred by widespread vote-rigging.

The Taliban had warned voters to stay home, saying election workers and polling centers were fair game. A spokesman for the group, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed in a statement Sunday that more than 1,000 attacks took place “to disrupt the fake and predetermined elections set up by America.” The group often exaggerates its claims.

A number of high-profile attacks before Saturday, including two on offices of the Independent Election Commission and several targeting foreigners, heightened concern. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan security forces fanned out and erected checkpoints at intersections, searching cars and people. Workers also patted down voters, in some cases three times, before they entered polling stations.

Brig. Gen. Daniel O’Donohue, the chief operations officer for NATO-led forces, said Afghan voters had done their job and called on candidates and other political players to foster stability.

“The enemy, after this defeat, will surely intensify its senseless violence and the prospect for peace is still precarious — but there is hope and that is everything,” he said in an email.

After an aggressive campaign, three front-runners emerged: Abdullah Abdullah, who was Karzai’s main rival in 2009; Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a well-known academic and former World Bank official; and former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul. They all expressed confidence after the vote that they would win, or at least advance to a second round, but all promised to respect official, “credible” results.

This article appeared in print on page 1 of the April 7th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.